Hair shaper



TAYLO HAIR SHAPER gva 2 9 Filed Au 1946 NVEN TOR. D on Tay/O PatentedNov. 21, 1950 "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHAPE DonTaylor, Detroit,Mich.

Application August 3, 1946, SerialNo. 688,294

(Cl. Bil-30) 15 Claims.

1 This invention relates to hair shapers, such as are equipped with arazor blade and are commonly used in beauty shops and the like to imparta desired end form to strands of womens hair. The present application isdirected to an improvement on the subject matter of .my pendingapplication, Serial Number 670,473, filed May 17, 1946.

An object of the inyentionis to provide an .improved mechanism forlatching a blade ,in its mounting and ejecting it when desired.

Another object-is to provide a blade mounting of a type having guardteeth for the cutting edge of the blade, and to afford the blade .twodefinite positions of use, each exposing portions of the other bladeposition.

Another objectis to so fo m the bladeand its mounting as to safeguardthecutting edgeof the blade from contact with the mounting.

These and various other .objects are attained by the constructionhereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying-drawing,where-Fig. 1 is an enlarged side elevational iew of my improved hair shaper,showing a blade latched in its mounting.

Fig. 2 is a similar elevational view in partial section, showing theblade partially ejected.

Fig. 3 is an end view ofthe implement.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4-.d of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the handle, taken on 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective View of the blade.

in these 'views,.the reference character 1 designates an elongatedmounting for a thin elongated blade 2 having a razor edge 3. Themounting is formed with a narrow socket 4 wherein the blade is removablyinserted, such socket opening in an end face of the mounting. Adjoiningthe other end face of the mounting, an abutment 5 for the blade isformed, and a suitable handle 6 for the implement projects. A guard forthe cutting edge 3 is formed on the lower portion of the mounting by arow of teeth 7, similar to those of a comb. The upper portions of suchteeth form the lower portion of the socket 4, the teeth projecting asuitable distance below the cutting edge. It is desirable to avoiddulling said edge through contact with the tooth-formed bottom wall ofthe socket 4, and such contact is prevented by giving the top portion ofthe blade a slight excess of thickness over cutting edge rendered idleby the teeth in the the lower portion, resulting in longitudinalshoulders 8, the socket being correspondingly shaped. Thus the .edge 3exercises no blade supporting or guiding function.

For latching the blade in inserted position, a resilient elongated latchpiece 9, preferably m tallic, is set jointly ,into the handle andmounting, the forward portion of said strip passing above the abutment 5and terminating in a downwardly projecting detent It toenter anotc'h ,Il in the upperedge of the blade. The rear portion of the latch piece isexposed beneath the handle, being terminally formed with a downwardlyprojecting actuating lug l2. Between its rear portion and higher frontportion, the latch piece is inclined at approximately forty-five degreesas is indicated at 13, forming a cam to engage the abutment .57. .Rea wd y o i s in l ned portion It, the latch piece is confined in the handleand limited in its play to a forward and back sliding travel. Thus whenthe latch piece is slid forward from its normal retracted position, inwhich the blade is held in place by said detent, the cam portion I3rides up said abutment, flexing the forward portion of the latch pieceupwardly to release the blade from the tooth It. This release does notoccur, however, until the blade ,has been slid forward sufliciently .toexpose its front end portion (Fig. ,2), thus permitting ready removal ofthe blade. Following insertionof anew blade, retraction of the latchpiece will release the .cam portion J3 from abutmentfi, allowing thelatchpiece to flex down to retain the new blade by the detent Ill. Thelatch piece 9 thus has the additional functionof a blade ejector. Therear portion .of the socket A-opens into a chamber M in the mounting,ac,- commodating the raised forward portion of the latch piece andaffording the required sliding and flexure of such portion.

To retain the blade in a use position, the latch piece must itself beretained, and it is preferred to provide two latching positions in oneof which the blade contacts the abutment 5, being sufficiently shiftedforward in the other position to expose those portions of the edge 3which were shielded by the teeth l in the first-mentioned position. Tothus derive an eventual cutting function from the full length of theedge 3, the spaces between the teeth must equal the teeth width, atleast in the plane transverse to the teeth established by the cuttingedge. The two required latching positions of the piece 5 are establishedpreferably by providing a small tooth IE on the upper edge of saidpiece, near its rear end, for

engagement in either of two small recesses IS in the handle. Said toothflexes the exposed rear portion of the latch piece slightly downwardlyduring sliding actuation of said piece, so that the tooth snaps inoeither recess when registered therewith. The recesses and tooth [5 arepreferably V-shaped, so that a release may be efiected by applying amoderate longitudinal pressure to the latch-piece. The tooth l5 slidesin a narrow upward extension of the handle passage receiving and guidingthe latch piece 9, as best appears in Fig. 2, such passage affording novertical play to the latch piece.

The mounting l and handle 6 are preferably formed of a tough plasticmaterial, as for example, Lucite, and this material may be transparent,permitting a user of the implement to observe the functioning of thecombined latch-piece and ejector. Preferably a reinforcing wire I1 isembedded in the top portion of the mountin extending substantially thefull length thereof and also some distance into the handle.

Provision of the described latch-piece, exercising also an ejectorfunction, assures against accidental escape of a blade from the mountingand also avoids difficulty in ejecting a blade. Such difliculty tendstoarise if a blade is corroded or not perfectly straight or if particlesof dirt clog the socket l. Adaptability of the blade to be used in twopositions, each bringing into use portions of the cutting edge guardedin the other of said positions, substantially doubles the useful life ofthe blade as compared to construetions lacking this feature.

What I claim is:

1. A cutting implement comprising a blade having a cutting edge, anelongated mounting formed with a socket proportioned to receive theblade and opening substantially at one end of the mounting to affordinsertion and removal of the blade, a row of teeth on the mountingextending across and partially shielding said edge, a latch membercarried by the mounting to retain the blade in the socket, and slidablelongitudinally of the mounting, to release the blade, and having aportion resiliently flexible to operatively engage and disengage theblade, such portion being normally sprung to a blade-engaging position,the mounting and latch member having a provision is: )lormally holdingsuch member in a blade-retaining position, and an abutment on themounting engageable by said flexible portion of the latch member, upon asliding actuation of such member, to flex said portion to ablade-releasing position.

2. A cutting implement as set forth in claim 1, said flexible portion ofthe latch member being 4 bent diagonally to the length of the mountingto engage and respond to said abutment.

3. A cutting implement as set forth in claim 1, said latch member havinga sliding travel in the mounting adequate to partially eject the bladefrom the socket in advance of engagement with said abutment.

4. A cuttin implement as set forth in claim 1, said latch member beingelongated lengthwise of the mounting and being housed within themounting throughout the major length of said member, and having an endportion exposed exteriorly of the mounting to afford sliding actuationof said member.

5. A cutting implement comprising a blade having a cutting edge, anelongated mounting formed with a socket proportioned to receive theblade and opening substantially at one end of the mounting to afiordinsertion and removal of the blade, a combined ejector and latch memberfor the blade slidable in said mounting toward and away from saidopening and having a portion resiliently flexible into and out ofoperative engagement within the blade, such portion being normallysprung to a blade-engaging position, said latch member being terminallyformed with a detent for latching and ejecting engagement with theblade, said resiliently fiexible portion forming a cam predeterminatelyspaced from said detent, and an abutment on the mounting engageable bysaid cam, responsive to blade-ejecting sliding travel of said member, torelease the blade from the detentby fiexure of said resilient flexibleportion.

DON TAYLOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 790,439 Kampfe May 23, 19051,212,956 Johnstone Jan. 16, 1917 1,217,570 Cox Feb. 27, 1917 1,705,205Reams Mar. 12, 1929 1,888,488 Brown Nov. 22, 1932 1,906,573 Gits May 2,1933 1,932,876 Agostini Oct. 31, 1933 1,940,855 Friedman Dec. 26, 19332,109,108 Fesler Feb. 22, 1938 2,260,141 Hanle Oct. 21, 1941 2,270,655Keeran Jan. 20, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 168,449 GreatBritain Sept. 8, 1921

